Wednesday, June 30, 2010

The original Sky HD boxes, manufactured by Thomson (model number DSI8215 or 902020 or with serial numbers beginning 4E300) are notorious for developing problems between 12 and 36 months old.

This is usually due to capacitors dying on the power supply unit (PSU).

Either the combination of increased processing power and a larger hard drive allegedly appears to have caught Thomson out or most people are stacking their equipment without proper space for ventilation

(see the numerous forums on this subject -
"I'm on my third plus box since end of September. Thomson, Amstrad, Thomson!"

"I have had my brand new Thomson sky+HD box for just over a month and i must say its a pile of junk,i have had more problems over the last month than i ever did with my pace sky+box it lasted 7 years without so much as a hiccup!"

"We had endless Thomson boxes that had the same problems. Dont know anyone with a Thomson whos does not do this. It seems that Thomson use Asda Smart price components (IMO) where as Samsung and so on use quality components. The moral of the story is never accept a refurb or Thomson box."

It should also be said that some boxes never experience any problems, but often the first signs are that the box will tell you that there is a problem with one of the input signals, followed by some channels missing then freezing, no picture at all, switching into standby not coming out of standby or even not coming on at all.

Thanksfully we have supplied Pace Sky HD and Samsung Sky HD boxes to our clients - but just be warned that the other two other makes of HD boxes Amstrad and specifically Thomsons can be troublesome.

Tuesday, June 29, 2010

This post should hopefuuly explain why you have to change the Default Transponder Frequency Settings for a Sky digibox when in Spain.

NO SATELLITE SIGNAL BEING RECEIVED MESSAGE
HOW TO CHANGE THE SKY DEFAULT TRANSPONDER FREQUENCY SETTINGS FOR SPAIN.

When a Sky receiver / digibox / box is turned on the first time the first thing the box tries to do is, amongst other things, to download approximately 6 hours of EPG information from a specific default frequency from the satellite. The digibox must have this information to start to work.
Unfortunately, the default transponder frequency that the decoder is initially set on (11778) is one of the weaker signals in Spain and the Costa Blanca, especially during the afternoons.

When power is cut, such as during one of Spains frequent power cuts, the Sky boxes default to their UK transponder frequency settings - 11778. This may not be on of the strongest transponder frequency in Spain, and so the box may not be able to lock onto this weka frequency and therefore you will receive the "No satellite signal is being received" on screen message.

Therefore, to assist the digibox to receive the bare minimum information it requires boot up the default frequency must be changed to another frequency to enable the initial information download.

The best / most popular default transponder frequency for the Costa Blanca Spain is 12.129, although you can use any of the many frequencies that you can actually receive at the time. Yes ANY frequency will work, as long as you can receive the particular frequency!

In most cases, after a successful download the default transponder frequency will return to 11778. This is normal, and you should not really expect the digibox to keep the default transponder you have manually input.

IMPORTANT:
Changing this default transponder frequency on a Sky box does not increase how long channels are available, no matter what people tell you. It is only used to “assist” the receiver to boot up. For example if you change the default transponder frequency setting to another frequency setting, say 12129, then when you ask the receiver to change to Sky News the receivers will look for Sky News on 12207, and as a basic Sky receiver can only look at one frequency at a time, the default transponder setting of 12129 is not used and overridden. So this is why changing the default transponder does not increase the time a channel is available and why changing this frequency does not keep BBC or ITV One, Two, Three Four for longer.

A question that is asked frequency on Google is "What is the frequency for Sky TV in Spain?"

The answer is simple: you use the same frequncies for Sky TV in Spain as if you were in the UK.

UK TV abroad uses the same satellites and satellite frequencies as if you were using your Sky digibox in the UK. The UK TV channels available on Sky (of Freesat) come from the same group of four satellites: Astra 2a, Astra 2b, Astra 2d, and Eurobird 1. All UK TV channels are transmitted from one of the 90plus satellite transponder frequencies on these four satellites.

So if you want to watch Sky Sports 1 HD in the UK you will be using a satellite frequency of 11798 H 29500 3/4. If you want to watch Sky Sports 1 HD in Spain you will use the same frequency.

Here is a list of those frequencies used on Astra and Eurobird satellites for UK "Sky" and "Freesat" TV in the UK and abroad.

UK / British Satellite Television in Spain Sky In Spain Sky TV in Spain

In order to receive satellite television you will require a satellite dish, a Low Noise Block (LNB) and a digital decoder. The satellite dish collects the signals and reflects them to the LNB which collects the signals and sends then down the cable to the digital decoder which then turns those signals into pictures and sounds. Many channels are available for free and there are also Pay TV channels that require a viewing card and a monthly subscription.

Sky In Spain

The UKs main pay / subscription satellite TV service, Sky, also operates on the satellites at Astra 28degrees. These channels are broadcast with encryption, and can only be viewed by the use of a Sky subscription card. The amount of channels that are “unblocked” will depend on the subscription charge you pay.
As far as I know, it is NOT illegal to use a Sky viewing cards or watch Sky subscription TV channels outside of the UK. However, you are breaking the terms and conditions of you Sky contract, which states that the Sky viewing card is only for use within the UK only. This is Sky’s method of ensuring that their contracts with the film, sports and other TV program makers is satisfied, as a Sky card can only be issued to a UK address.

Sometimes best to ask a family member or a friend in the UK to order a Sky card at their address on your behalf. The Sky contract that is received will need to be signed by the name of the person you have used. Once the contract has been received by Sky they will then issue the Sky card to the UK address. The card will need to be put in its Digibox, and then you and your UK contact will have to contact Sky to get the card activated, they will require the information from the sky receiver on the system details screen (Services, 4, 6)

From 14 August and during the next three seasons, Canal + will broadcast the Premier League.

The Premier LEgaue will no longer be shown on TVE La2 or Teledeporte, as TVE have no longer the broadcast rights for the League.

Canal + will offer highlights and will broadcast the tournament in HD.

The Premier League is considered the best league competition in the world, with the power of teams like Chelsea, Manchester United, Liverpool, Arsenal or Manchester City, and some of the best players on the planet.

Digital + will offer English Premier Legaue games through its channels, with a variety of games divided between its channels, including Canal + and Canal + Fútbol, and in High Definition.

This and further information can be found on our website and Satellite TV forum:

Saturday, June 19, 2010

TDT is the Spanish Digital Television service available via your TV aerial. With TDT you can receive around 30 digital Spanish Channels. Although there are no UK or English channels on TDT, you can, in many cases, change the language of certain UK and USA imported programmes from the dubbed Spanish into English. In most cases this can be done by simply pressing the “Audio” button on the remote control.

Sony Entertainment TV no longer available

One of the TDT channels that transmitted a number of American TV imports was the Sony Entertainment Channel – SET. However, you may have noticed that in the last few weeks it is now unavailable, or you are getting a “channel scrambled” message. This is because SET is no longer being broadcasted on TDT. It has been replaced by AXN. However, AXN is the second pay channel on TDT, the first being GOL TV.

To watch these Premium TDT channels you require a Premium viewing card, and a TDT receiver or a TDT Integrated TV with the ability to read the card. Currently a monthly subscription of around 15euros is required for access to both Gol TV and AXN.

High Definition Channels on TDT

Over the coming year some more HD TDT channels will become available. I say more, as in some areas of the Valencia area it is possible to receive Canal 9 HD. Later in the year TVE, and Telecinco are expect to launch their TDT HD channels. In order to receive these TDT HD channels you will require either a TDT HD set top box, or a TV with a built in TDT HD receiver.

Important Sky Card information

As many are aware Sky TV recently replaced their viewing cards from the Blue with Yellow house cards to the all white cards. On the 1st March 2010 all the old blue yellow house cards were deactivated and no longer “unlock” any of the Sky TV channels.

The new white cards have also thrown up a few interesting surprises.
Sky card require a constant signal from the satellite to “keep the cards alive”. If the cards do not receive this “keep alive” signal over a few weeks, then the cards can “go to sleep”. If the cards have “gone to sleep” then one the encrypted channels you will see a message informing you that “This is the wrong cards for this set top box”.

The old blue Sky cards could be “woken up” by leaving them in ANY Sky digibox over a period of 24 / 48 hours, and the channels would eventually reappear. However, the new white Sky cards can only be woken up by leaving them for 24/48 hours in the Sky box that he cards were originally activated in.

Sky Boxes Switching Off Randomly

Since the beginning of March 2010, some Sky boxes have been experiencing an issue where they are switching off at random times, even if you have turned off the Autostandby feature on the Sky box.

The Autostandby feature automatically puts the Sky box into Standby mode if the box has been switched on and no remote control buttons have been touched for 4 hours – supposedly helping you save some power by not having the box turned on all the time.

However, on the Pace 430N Sky receivers, a software update from Sky has been causing the boxes to shut down at random times. You can confirm your make of Sky box by looking at the sticker that should be on the bottom of your box. By pressing Services, 4, 5 and accessing the System Details, software version 3.8.8 is the one that is causing the issues. All other Sky boxes and software versions are at the moment OK.

You can correct this problem yourself, by performing a manual software update which rolls back the software to the previous working version.
This process should be done in the morning, and only if you are getting the background music playing when you enter the Sky menu system, as the frequency for the software download may not be available on small dishes or in the afternoon, and performing it when the frequency is not there could damage your Sky box.

1 Unplug your sky box from the power
2 Press and hold the BACKUP button on the Sky box – not the remote control.
3 Still pressing the Back up button, reapply the power.
4 Keep pressing the back up button on the Sky box until RED YELOW and GREEN light glow on the front panel of the box. A “Downloading” message may also appear on the screen
5 Once these lights have appeared you can release the Back up button, as the box has now started the software download.
6 The Sky box will reboot once the download has been completed. You can confirm if the correct software has been downloaded by going once again into the System Details (Service, 4, 5) and checking that the Software version is now 3.7.6

I should better reiterate that this process should only be down if you can get the download frequency (11778) indicated by the background music on the sky menu screen, that you may also have to re add those “extra” ITV1, C4 and Five channels you have added into your Other Channels lists, and that you perform this upgrade at your own risk and I cannot be held liable if it fails and / or damages your Sky box.

This and further information can be found on our website and Satellite TV forum:

Tuesday, June 15, 2010

England's away games in the Euro 2012 qualifying campaign will be shown exclusively live on Sky Sports, it has been announced.

All four matches in Wales, Switzerland, Bulgaria and Montenegro are included in new rights deals that bring live away qualifiers for Wales, the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland, along with Fabio Capello's men, to Sky Sports.

The five nations will appear live in a total of 32 internationals as Europe's finest compete for a place at Poland and Ukraine in two years' time.

Sky Sports' Euro 2012 live qualifiers will include England's first away, against Switzerland, the climax in Montenegro and, exclusively live in high definition, the match against Wales at the Millennium Stadium.

The channel will also show Northern Ireland's opening fixtures in Slovenia and at home to Italy amongst four away games and five home games on Sky Sports.

The Republic of Ireland's opening match in Armenia is the first of nine live Euro 2012 qualifiers featuring the men in green on Sky Sports, including four live away games.

Scotland's four home matches, opening with Liechtenstein on September 7, and including the tie against reigning Euro champions Spain on October 12 will also be screened.

Barney Francis, the managing director of Sky Sports said: "All four away games on England's qualifying campaign will be live, alongside matches for Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.

"We will also show each of the international teams live in the opening week of the tournament and over 30 live qualifiers throughout the campaign.

"It's great news for our viewers across the UK and Ireland and comes at the start of our strongest ever season for live football with 115 live matches from the Barclays Premier League - more than ever before, all in HD."

Sunday, June 6, 2010

Freesat is a free digital service broadcast from the Astra 2 satellite. It needs a dish mounted on the outside of your house to receive the service, and a digital set-top box or a TV with an integrated satelliter receiver.

Freeview is the name of the free domestic digital terrestrial service in the UK, brodacast from a network of land- based masts, and is received on a normal aerial, as found on most homes. It needs a digital set-top box or an integrated TV. Most modern TVs have digital terrestrial built in. A UK digital TV or Freeview box will work in Spain but will receive Spanish digital services in place of UK ones.

This has meant that some people will be receiving the "no signal" message on their Sky box when wanting to watch these channels.

The new frequency for these channels is a North Beam frequency. The north beam frequency means that reception will be tricky in the afternoon, when the north beams are weakest, and that these channels will be pretty much unavailable on smaller dishes like they used to be.

This and further information can be found on our website and Satellite TV forum:

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